Is IME Right for You?
TEN (10) REASONS WHY IME IS RIGHT FOR YOU
Consider your ideal career. What are your dreams? What characteristics would you like for your career? Careers of IME graduates have ALL TEN (10) of the following characteristics. Are these a good fit for you ideal career?
1. You will have graduated from a nationally recognized program.
The Cal Poly College of Engineering is ranked as one of the nation’s top public undergraduate engineering colleges. IME continues to rank as the No. 1 (BEST) IME undergraduate program in the nation among all non-PhD granting universities (U.S. News and World Report).
2. You will have benefited from an active “hands-on” style of learning.
A critical factor that differentiates Cal Poly from other universities is its learn-by-doing philosophy. IME has moved that philosophy to a new level, with our project-based learning curriculum from freshman through graduate classes. (see: Projects)
3. You will enjoy unlimited and diverse opportunities.
IMEs find employment opportunities in virtually every sector of our economy (e.g., aerospace, biomedical, consulting, energy, entertainment, food, hi-tech, service). (see: Diverse Opportunities).
4. You will enjoy a great salary and be in high demand.
Demand is projected to be strong for the foreseeable future, with salaries remaining high. Often IMEs have multiple job offers. The median salary for IMEs in 2007-08 was $64,000.
5. You will be working with people at all levels on projects.
Working with other people is a hallmark characteristic of IME -- from shop floor employees to top management. IMEs typically work on teams and projects involving people from multiple disciplines.
6. You will consider business issues in your engineering solutions.
IMEs apply engineering, math, and science as do other engineers. A hallmark that differentiates IME from other engineers is the focus on business issues (e.g., financial, marketing) in evaluating solutions..
7. You will create integrated solutions to complex problems.
Another differentiating characteristic is the IME focus on integrated solutions to complex problems. By its very definition, “industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy.” This basically means that everything must work well with everything else in your proposed solution.
8. You will continually focus on better and improved solutions.
Another key characteristic is that IME focuses on finding better or improved ways of doing things. This could mean creating new product/service solutions, or finding better solutions. IMEs find better ways in many industries. It could be improving a process (the way something is done), improving safety or quality, improving product manufacturability, improving sustainability, or creating better energy solutions. Examples illustrate these concepts best. (see: Projects)
9. Your work will be meaningful, challenging, and provide opportunities that really make a difference.
We believe that IMEs are involved in meaningful and challenging projects, and truly make a major difference in their careers and to the world. Samples of projects (see: projects) while at Cal Poly include: industry sponsored projects, community service projects (e.g., Polyhouse), service learning projects (e.g., sustainability), and multidisciplinary senior projects,.
10. Your Cal Poly education and your job will be fun.
We believe that IME students and graduates have fun in their careers. You be the judge by listening to our students and alums. As the cliché goes, “if you love your work, then you won’t have to work a day in your life.”
GOOD FIT? … YOU DECIDE.